Notes / Commercial Description:
This may be the craziest idea we've had yet but who better to collaborate with when doing something crazy than world renown cocktail lounge The Aviary? We brewed a double IPA with Citra and Simcoe hops then we added passionfruit puree and rotary evaporated fresno chiles. (Rotary evaporation leaves behind all the capsaicin normally found in chiles. So, the resultant liquid has the essence of a fresno chile and none of the heat.) The finished product is a sensory experience unlike any beer we've ever had. There is a wonderful hop aroma and slight bitterness that plays wonderfully with the tartness of the passionfruit and the distinct characteristics of the chiles. Drink as fresh as possible. Look for The One Horned Wonder on the bottle list at The Aviary as well as paired with a dish on the upcoming menu at Next.

Reviews by Florida9:

S: Aroma is all chiles right off the bat. Green chiles, like hatch chiles. There is a touch of citrusy sweetness in mix. Orange and passionfruit, but mostly green chiles.

T: The taste is interesting. It's very vegetal and quite savory. But it's also fucking with my head as the taste seems to fluctuate between the vegetal, green, flavor of the Fresno chiles and the sweet, tropical, and tart-fruitiness of the passionfruit. The two competing flavors seem to work well with one another while simultaneously competing against each other. There are some underlying sweet, orange-citrusy notes. Tart finish.

O: I'm really conflicted on this beer. There are some aspects that are incredibly forward thinking, but at the same time I feel like the Fresno and the passionfruit are attempting to punch each other in the face. I will admit, it's a very interesting take on the DIPA style.

Fuck it, this beer should have been hit with a dose of Brett Lambicus on the back end to add a note of complexity. Get to it Garrett.

More User Reviews:

Appearance: a beautiful orange hazy beer. Somehow combines the best parts of pale ale and almost a wheat beer type cloud. With a little shake of the wrist you can get an amazing head on this beer (fades quickly). Pour aggressively and let it settle to get a better head. The bottle also has amazing artwork which is standard with Pipeworks brews.

Smell: Probably the most amazing thing is how the peppers and the passion fruit come together to create the aroma of an amazing cocktail.

Taste: Hops hit your right off the bat with the fresno chile's coming right after and lingering. Passion fruit slowly builds into the taste while not overpowering the hops or the chile. Has an almost sweet taste like a wheat beer. Chile's linger on the palate but only the taste, no spicyness at all.

Mouthfeel: If only all beer could be so amazingly flavorful and yet somehow almost like velvet in the mouth. Drinks like a yeasty beer but without the viscosity of a stout. More substantial than any ale I've ever had. Has a nice body which allows you to work it over all parts of the mouth and tongue which helps unlock the flavors.

Overall: Really an impressive beer, the kind of thing where I would go back to the store and by 10 bottles so I can just have a store of it because who knows when they'll brew it again. If you like wheat beers, chile's, and fruit, this is the beer you have been waiting for. Although Pipeworks is known for powerful pale ales and stouts, I'm a wheat beer fan and this is as good as anything else they've done including the amazing Pineapple Bling and Peppercorn Saison. Way more flavorful than the saizon and way more body and mouthfeel than the pineapple bling.

Hazy bit bright orange. It looks syrupy with minimal head. To cut to the chase, it looks more syrupy than it really is.

Green, vegetal Fresno chiles explode in the aroma. The description about the rotary process is interesting because the aroma (and flavor) are absent of any heat, not that Fresno are that hot to begin with. The passion fruit is also very noticeable.

The flavor is distinctly back and forth with vegetal chile and tropical passion fruit. Long, long finish that continues with the duel. The vegetal aspect is a but much for my taste.

22 oz. bottle, with Batch #318 319 printed on the label. Another new beer to me from Pipeworks, this one with an interesting premise - brewed with Fresno chiles and passion fruit. My first chile beer from Pipeworks; not entirely sure what to expect.

Poured into a clear balloon snifter.

A - Pours a bright juicy fiery orange colored body with about a finger of sudsy off-white head. Soapy and bubbly, with big scattered sheets of lacing. Looks very nice.

S - It smells like a lot of Pipeworks' regular IPA's and pale ales up front with notes of pine, grapefruit, orange, creaminess / soapiness, hint of bready malt, but the fresh vegetal chiles are more than apparent on the nose. Not hot at all, but you can definitely tell there are chiles in this. Not pulling any distinct "passion fruit" on the aroma, but it is definitely fruity.

M - Feel is smooth and creamy, fruity and juicy, medium-bodied with good carbonation.

Overall, this is a pretty damn fine chile beer. One of the best, if not the best of the style I have yet had. The rotary evaporation technique to remove the heat was also probably a nice idea. This puts crap like Stone Crime to shame. Highly recommended.

Pipeworks The One Horned Wonder And His Fanciful Flying Fresno ---4/5.

Pours a golden color, slightly hazy, with a small head and some soapy cling. Smell brings a blast of passion fruit at the open, chiles- more as it warms, malt, some dank hops. Maybe a hint of smoke. Taste brought out the chiles first, some citrusy hops, malt, passion fruit, still a little of the dank hops. Light bitterness up front, more at the back. Smooth, good feel, solid body.

This was a lot better than I was expecting. The no- heat chiles added a really great flavor. Passion fruit was mostly background after the open, but contributed to a flavorful, well balanced beer. Well worth a purchase.